Jose Garrido – Documentary editor -

Jose is an extraordinary editor. His priority is always to build a solid story, taking the utmost care of the characters' motivations. He is so passionate about his work that he rarely complains, he is very serene and always generates a very good atmosphere. The best guy you can get in an editing room.

Marisa Lafuente

/ Screenwriter - The Borbones: A Royal Family

Jose is a rare find in the filmmaking world, mainly his talent and lack of ego. Jose edited my feature length documentary film EXIT which premiered at The San Diego International Film Festival. I wouldn’t hesitate to hire Jose again or recommend him.

Alison Jayne Wilson

/ Director - Exit

Jose makes editing seem effortless. His meticulous narrative structure, inherent sense of rhythm and pace, deft use of music, and unfaltering visual flare is quite extraordinary. Mix in the intelligence, good humour and tenacity he infuses into every production, and you’ll soon appreciate just how gifted he is.

Duncan Copp

/ Director - Humanity from Space

Jose is an editor extraordinaire. Capable of delivering brilliant work under the most demanding circumstances. He is hard as nails and always willing to go the extra mile to get the job done. Any director would be lucky to have him on his team.

David Beriain

/ Executive Producer - Clandestino

Jose is a hard-working and friendly editor who is full of useful and creative ideas. He can turn his hand to a number of genres; Science, current affairs, observational documentaries and more. Jose is also technically adept and has the additional advantage of being bilingual.

Paul Kittel

/ Director - Charlotte's Story

In the last 6 years I have worked with Jose in over a dozen documentaries. A brilliant, hardworking and very professional editor. Jose has very high standards and always puts his considerable talent and strength at the service of the project.

Fernando Ureña

/ Director - 11 Shots

ABOUT ME

I have 25 years’ experience cutting drama, factual and observational documentaries for networks sus as Netflix, Prime Video, BBC, Nat Geo, Discovery or Channel 4 amongst others. I particularly enjoy editing compelling human stories. I have a strong sense of narrative and structure as well as an eye for detail and pacing. I am committed to my work, enthusiastic and enjoy working as part of a team. I enjoy cutting a variety of programs on all sorts of budgets and formats and I am used to work under pressure and to a deadline.

25
Years
98
Documentaries
33
Film Directors
21
Awards & Nominations

Tools of the trade

Avid Media Composer

Premiere Pro

Final Cut X

DaVinci Resolve

Broadcasters

Since 1999

Brief History

2025-present day
Brave New Day

Artificial intelligence is revolutionising documentary filmmaking, transforming how stories are uncovered, edited, and shared. Far from replacing the human element, these advanced tools are acting as powerful creative partners. They handle time-consuming technical hurdles, allowing creators to focus on deep storytelling and emotional truth.

2023-2024
Old Dog New Tricks

The everchanging media landscape always keeps you on your toes. In the last few months, I have had the chance to work for new platforms and with new teams of people. This has given me the opportunity to keep on learning and to expand my narrative skillset stepping out of my comfort zone once more. This is one of the most stimulating aspects of this job and one of the things that makes me love it.

2021-2022
Variety is the spice of life

The last two years have been full of new challenges. I have worked with national and international teams, on both huge productions and 3-person teams, with large and modest budgets, remotely and on location. I've also worked with new production companies and new teams in roles ranging from editor to AP and everything in between.

2020
Off the beaten track

2020 is the year of doing things a little bit different. The year of remote editing for one, but also the year of working on exciting projects with new people. It began with the excellent short film The Sands of Time and a very important feature length documentary: Life Inverted.

2017 - 2019
Lead Editor and Beyond

Over the last few years I have worked as lead editor on several award-winning projects for 93 Metros. Most of them for DMAX and Discovery Latino America. As well as editing work, I have taught audio visual narrative on several workshops for newspapers in Colombia (El Tiempo in Bogotá, El País in Cali, El Meridiano in Montería and La Opinión in Cúcuta) and Spain (La Voz de Galicia) as well as Navarra's Local Government.

2014 - 2016
The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain

Since 2014 I have been working mostly in Spain. I have edited and edit supervised award-winning documentary series Secret Amazon and Clandestino with David Beriain. During that time, I have also cut several feature length documentaries like The CIA's Lost Army and Humanity from Space for Discovery Max and PBS respectively.

2008 - 2013
Big Budgets High Pressure

After leaving Perfect Balance I worked on several Unreported World documentaries for Channel 4 as well as other observational documentaries and science films for Discovery and National Geographic. Other highlights include high budget documentary series How the Universe Works featuring Physicists Stephen Hawking and Michio Kaku amongst others, as well as a small human story Charlotte Story (nominated for an R.T.S. award) and big budget drama documentary 9/11 State of Emergency featuring Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld.

2005 - 2007
Perfect Balance

In 2005, I joined Perfect Balance as a company director for 3 years. Over that period, I continued to cut films for BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery channel. I also worked on award winning documentaries Laya and Trawlermen.

2003 - 2004
Work Hard Work Harder

In August 2003, I cut my first prime time terrestrial TV documentary for BBC One; Car Wars for (Mentorn-Folio). Over the next 2 years I cut several "police shows" for them; as well as these BBC documentaries, I also worked several films for Discovery Channel, Channel Five and two music documentaries for Palm Pictures and Perfect Balance.

2003
Breaking Through (to the other side)

I started working as a freelance editor in 2002 cutting observational and factual documentaries for The Community Channel, Sparkling Productions and Palm Pictures amongst others. I cut my first BBC program as a VT editor for the series Through the Keyhole (hosted by Sir David Frost) for BBC One.

2002
Growing Pains

I started editing low budget short films whilst working as a runner in a small postproduction facility called Head First in Soho. I worked in the machine room where I learned everything about tape formats and decks. I became an Avid technical assistant and worked as an assistant editor on many projects. I also learnt how to grade and online using their Avid Symphony.

2001
London Film School

I Graduated from London Film School: Two year full-time Diploma Course on The Art and Technique of Filmmaking.

1996
Military Service

I spent 9 months driving trucks for the Heavy Artillery Unit in the Canary Islands.

Awards

EXIT

Official Selection

– San Diego International Film Festival

Best Feature Documentary

– Stockholm City Film Festival

Best First Time Documentary Film

– Boden International Film festival

Best First Time Filmmaker

– Aphrodite Film Festival – New York

Best Director Feature Film

– Paris Cinema Awards

The CIA’s Lost Army

Winner – Impact Docs Awards

Award of Excellence

Clandestino

Winner – Iris Awards

Best Production Series

Trawlermen

Shortlisted for BAFTA Nomination

Best Factual Series

F.A.B

Winner – British Short Film Festival

Best Documentary Short Film

When no one sees me

Official Selection

Tribeca Film Festival, Nueva York

The Kidnapping Business: Venezuela

Nominee – Realscreen Awards

Non-Fiction – Social Issues & Current Affairs Program

Latinos on Death Row

Nominee – Emmy Awards

Outstanding Investigative Journalism in Spanish

El Camino de la Cocaina

Winner – Noida International Film Festival

Best editing – Best Feature Length Documentary

Charlotte’s Story

Nominee – R.T .S. (Royal Television Society)

Best Documentary

Nominee – Guild Health Writers

Best TV Health Programme

Nominee – Grierson Awards

Best Science Documentary

Embarrassing Bodies

Winner – Annual Broadcast Awards

Best Popular Factual Programme Award

Impulse Superdeform

Winner – Kodak Award

Best Short-film

El Mercado de la Inocencia

Winner – New York Festivals TV&Film Awards

Gold World Medal – Documentary Social Issues

The Sinaloa Cartel

Nominee – Iris Awards

Best Director

My Secret Past (Jodie Marsh Bullied)

Long-listed for BAFTA Nomination

Best Factual Series

Black nor white

Winner – Imagine Asia Short Film Competition

Best Short Film

Hours for Impact: Road Safety Education Foundation

Winner – The Telly Awards

Gold Winner Social Impact

Weaving Futures

Winner – The Telly Awards

Gold Winner  Social Video

Strength in Unity: PMIEF and Special Olympics Ukraine

Winner – The Telly Awards

Bronze Winner For Best Editing